Tālivaldis ĶENIŅŠ (1919-2008)
Symphony No 4 (1972) [23.16]
Symphony No 6, “Sinfonia ad Fugam” (1978) [18.02]
Canzona Sonata for viola and string orchestra (1986) [11.22]
Santa Vižine (viola), Latvian National Symphony Orchestra/Guntis Karma
rec. Great Guild Hall, Riga, Latvia 19-23 January 2021
ONDINE ODE1354-2 [52.40]
This recording of two of Ķeniņš’ eight symphonies is a welcome addition to Ondine’s series devoted to the Latvian/Canadian composer. This, and the preceding recording of Symphony No 1, and 2 Concertos (ODE 1350-2), reveal a composer of considerable significance, and left me keen to explore further into his accessible but taut idiom. One has the sense of an economy of gesture in a style which is largely tonal, perhaps best described as laconic, allied to emotional depth – a voice with something to say. The Canadian Encyclopedia captures his idiom well as seeking to ‘reconcile the romanticism of his nature and the neoclassicism of a French training.’
Ķeniņš’ life was spent largely in exile from his homeland. His parents were part of the Latvian intelligentsia, his father a lawyer, diplomat, government official, educator, poet and translator, his mother a journalist and writer, and social activist. Ķeniņš had studied in Grenoble, where he took his baccalaureate, before beginning musical studies in Riga. The Soviet invasion of Latvia in 1941 led to his father’s enforced emigration, and his own pressed military service ‘in the hell of Pomerania’. From 1945 to 1951, he resumed study at the Paris Conservatoire – his gifts as a composer were recognised by the most prestigious prizes. Thereafter he lived and worked in Toronto at the University Faculty of Music, becoming full Professor in 1973.
Symphony No 4 was written for the Third Latvian Song Festival, held in Cologne in 1973. It is a technically intriguing work, with an extraordinary range of sound from an unusual palette. It has something of the feeling of a chamber work (Ķeniņš had a special devotion to chamber music), but percussion plays an important part – the composer described the symphony as ‘really a concerto for percussion instruments’ – though, oddly, there are no parts for double bass, bassoons or brass below a trumpet. The symphony is in two movements, the first overwhelmingly slow and frequently meditative, the second beginning presto but leading to a final state of almost frozen time.
No 4 is probably the most performed of all the symphonies – and very impressive it is – but No 6 is at least its equal; I have found myself returning to it several times. Ķeniņš’ love of counterpoint, and especially his devotion to the fugues of Bach, are evident throughout the single-movement (but four part) work. There are passages of intense beauty, and a mystical sense pervades much of the piece.
The Canzona Sonata is also a work of distinctive beauty, though with some fiery passages. The viola often soars above the string orchestra, and the warmth of the instrument is deeply affecting.
Performances are committed and lovely, in clear but suitably warm sound.
Michael Wilkinson
Previous review: Hubert Culot
